Century Media, the metal label that is home to Andrew W.K., Nachtmystium, Twilight, Iced Earth, Napalm Death, Lacuna Coil, In Flames, Voivod, and more has filed lawsuits in New Jersey against approximately 7,500 people for allegedly illegally sharing music, NorthJersey.com reports (via NME).

The "John Doe defendants" (identified only by IP addresses) are being sued for allegedly sharing the Lacuna Coil album Dark Adrenaline and the Iced Earth album Dystopia on BitTorrent. If the court allows it, the personal information of the defendants will be offered up by internet service providers. These suits are part of a larger pool of lawsuits that have been filed in the past 18 months against more than 15,000 people, for allegedly sharing music, movies, and pornography.

Century Media's lawyer Jay R. McDaniel told NorthJersey.com, "This kills the little producer and it has an extremely destructive effect on the entertainment industry. Frankly, record sales don't drive the music business anymore; touring does. So illegal sharing of music on the Internet has killed an entire industry."

However, as NorthJersey.com points out, in an earlier court decision, U.S. Magistrate Judge Gary R. Brown wrote, "The plaintiffs seemingly have no interest in actually litigating the cases, but rather simply have used the court and its subpoena powers to obtain sufficient information to shake down the John Does."